


𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝐿𝑎 𝐶𝑖𝑢𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑠

by Adrenalineshots, sonshineandshowers, TheFibreWitch



Series: Domino 🁡 [20]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Animal spirits, Case Fic, College Bright, Digital Art, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, FBI Bright, Gen, Hallucinations, Harassment, Health Emergency, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mental Health Issues, Metafiction, Murder Mystery, Nightmares, Surrealism, Trauma, Unreliable Narrator, Video, a lot of really strange stuff that happens in altered states of consciousness, anxiousness, canon minor character death, reader-driven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26503948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenalineshots/pseuds/Adrenalineshots, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFibreWitch/pseuds/TheFibreWitch
Summary: Selecting 𝐿𝑎 𝐶𝑖𝑢𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑠 from the bookshelf, Malcolm travels through his own mind.Read this story at:https://www.thedominostory.com/#la-ciudad-de-las-bestiasThis book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read thePrefaceorIntroduction, please head there first.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo/Jackie Arroyo, Gil Arroyo/Jessica Whitly
Series: Domino 🁡 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926451
Collections: Domino 🁡, Prodigal Son Big Bang 2020 - Saturday Posts





	𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝐿𝑎 𝐶𝑖𝑢𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑑𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑠

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jameena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jameena/gifts), [MissScorp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/gifts), [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/gifts).
  * Inspired by [La Ciudad de las Bestias](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/685339) by Isabel Allende. 



> This book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read the [Preface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64577434#workskin) or [Introduction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588537#workskin), please head there first.
> 
> Betaed by the wonderful [Jameena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jameena/), [MissScorp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/), and [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/).
> 
> Credit to the creators and their works that inspired and were referenced in this work:  
>  **— Inspiration:**[La Ciudad de las Bestias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_the_Beasts) \- Isabel Allende  
>  **— Cover Song:**[Kworo Kango](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGCsOUaTK8M) \- Marlui Miranda

[](https://www.thedominostory.com/images/full/la-ciudad-de-las-bestias.jpg) |   
---|---  
  
Malcolm had been haunted by owls as far back as he could remember. Well, perhaps _haunted_ wasn't the most accurate way to describe it. More like, _watched_.

The first time he had seen one had been shortly before his father's arrest. At the time, he hadn't read too much into the fact that an owl perched on his bedroom window, calmly staring at him for hours.

It had been a beautiful bird, big and with feathers of a deep, dark brown. Its intense yellow eyes seemed to follow him wherever he went inside the room as Malcolm went about his studies and played. He had tried to feed it a piece of his PB&J sandwich, having no idea what owls were supposed to eat. The owl had tilted its head from side to side, like its neck was dancing, before taking a large bite. Its strong beak nearly chopped off one of Malcolm's fingers in the process, alongside half his sandwich.

Malcolm had been left with a bloody finger and the remembrance of what he had seen in his father's study, hidden deep inside his memories. Inside the box, the trapped girl had smelled of copper, too. That night, Malcolm dialed 911 and changed his life forever.

The second time Malcolm had seen the owl, he had been studying under the massive trees at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard. It was his second year of Psychology and he still had no idea what path to choose. The study of the human mind was something that fascinated him greatly, trying to understand how much was free will and how much of each person's choices were a product of their upbringing and past traumas.

Take himself, for example. Malcolm was perfectly aware his inclination towards the study of the criminal mind was a product of having a serial killer father. Deep inside, he wanted to understand who his father was and why Martin had done the horrible things he had done.

Going deeper still, to those recesses of his mind that Malcolm seldom chose to acknowledge, he knew that the mind he was truly trying to understand was his own. He wanted -needed- to know the reasoning behind a killer's mind, the broken part inside them that made regular people turn into monsters.

A brown feather landed on the pages of his opened book. Malcolm looked up. There was an owl perched on a branch above him, its head tilted down, looking straight at him.

Owls in the woods were a common enough occurrence. This one, however, was wide awake in broad daylight and staring at him like he was a long lost friend. “Shouldn't you be sleeping?” Malcolm found himself asking the bird. He shook his head, not exactly expecting an answer from the wild beast.

He got up from the bench, his book snug under his arm, and started walking back to campus. The afternoon classes were about to start and he didn't want to be late. Being late meant having to sit in the first row desks, and a class on the history of Psychology was boring enough without having to pretend to be awake.

Malcolm barely heard the flapping of wings before he found his path cut off by the same owl, now perched on an empty bench. “Are you following me? I don't have food for you,” he informed the bird. Now that he was older, he knew that PB&J sandwiches were not a part of an owl’s diet. “Go hunt some rats or something,” he urged the bird. All he got in response were those yellow eyes fixed on his.

He remembered the last time an owl had followed him around. He could still see the tiny scar left behind on his right index finger from the last encounter. It had also been the night he had lost his father and his innocence.

Gil always told him that he was a hero, that he had saved many lives on that night, including the Lieutenant's.

On his darkest days, Malcolm couldn't see any of that. All he could see was the little boy who betrayed the man who raised him and sent him to jail.

A pinecone hit his head, making Malcolm hiss in pain. He looked at the owl. There was an innocent look in its bright yellow eyes, despite the fact that there was another pinecone in its beak.

He rubbed his head, thinking of the good days, the ones when he felt at ease with who he was, and the choices he had made. The days Malcolm was able to acknowledge without fear that he had in fact saved countless lives. His father had already murdered twenty-three people; who was to say how many more he would've killed if Malcolm hadn't stopped him?

Malcolm decided he liked that feeling; it made him feel good inside, gave him purpose. Suddenly, he knew exactly what he could do with his Psychology degree, how he could grab his unique life experience and make something good out of it.

Once a year, the FBI would send its recruiters to Harvard to get a feel for the best and brightest minds of the country and try to lure them to Quantico. With a clarity he rarely felt in life, Malcolm decided that this was exactly what he wanted.

To join the FBI and hunt monsters.

Of course, he couldn't simply show up at their doorstep and announce himself as Malcolm Whitly. His father's case was still too recent, and people would quickly figure out who he was. No, what he needed was a name that would be, at the same time, harmless, but catchy.

He looked up at the owl, its eyes catching the light like gold. Bright.

Malcolm Bright. Yes, that could work.

The last time Malcolm Bright saw the owl, he was finally aware of _what_ the bird was. While working for the FBI, he had been assigned a case that crossed into Native American lands and was interviewing the Chief at a local cafe when the owl came flying past them, nearly knocking Malcolm down.

While Malcolm sent murderous looks at the imposing bird, he decided to settle on their table, looking at the profiler expectantly.

“Do you know this bird?” the Chief asked, eyeing the magnificent beast with a critical eye.

Malcolm resisted the urge to shoo the bird away, but given the respect the other man was showing the owl, he figured it was best he behaved. After all, he needed the Chief on his side if he wanted to solve the case. He looked at the owl closely. It had the same majestic coat of brown feathers and bright yellow eyes, but other than that, it was impossible to tell if it was the same bird at all. Logic dictated that it couldn't possibly be the same bird, following him around the country.

“You _have_ seen this bird before,” the Chief concluded when Malcolm took too long to answer. “Good match...it fits,” he added with a sage smile, looking from the bird to Malcolm.

“What do you mean?”

“You are an observant young man who sees beyond what there is to be seen,” the Chief explained. “To have an owl as your spirit animal is a great honor, a sign of wisdom and the ability to see past the masks we all wear. It is also a messenger of change and sometimes...death.”

Malcolm looked at the bird with different eyes, trying to see the owl from the Native American man's beliefs. He had grown up not believing in spirits or anything that could command his actions other than his own free will, but the fact was that he had seen the same bird every time his life had taken a turn, for better or for worse.

His father's arrest.

Joining the FBI.

And today. There was nothing special about that day. Malcolm had a few more interviews to conduct, and then he could present his findings to the team working on the killer's profile. He had no major decisions to make that day, other than picking what to eat for dinner.

After saying his goodbyes to the Chief, Malcolm walked to his car, only to find the same owl perched on the roof. “Persistent little fella, aren't you?”

The owl gave him no reply, as expected, merely tilting its head to the side. If Malcolm was to believe the Chief's words and assume that this was more than a bird that was too familiar with humans, he would say that the owl looked sad.

A sudden feeling of grief overtook the profiler, one that he could not control or understand. It consumed him all through the drive to the hotel where he was staying.

The owl, which had taken flight as he had started the car engine, had beaten him to the place. It was sitting outside, looking down at him from a tree branch.

As he walked to reception and grabbed the piece of paper with an urgent message from Gil, Malcolm looked at the owl, wishing it would go away.

The bird flew off, as if discerning his thoughts. Still, the words on the note did not change. 

Jackie was gone.

— ◌◯◌ —

"We've ruled out head trauma, meningitis, seizures, and psychosis," the doctor explains to Gil and Jessica in a room off of the waiting area.

"Psychosis?" Jessica says, her voice full of shock.

Gil didn't realize that was an option on the table either. He wraps his arm around Jessica's back in a silent plea to let the doctor get through everything she needs to say.

"It's none of those things. That's a good thing. The most likely culprit is poison. We performed a gastric lavage to remove his stomach contents and started a few different medications. It's a little challenging because of the other medications he's on, but we're monitoring him closely."

"He's okay?" Gil asks.

"We're working to get his temperature down. Once that's stable, you can see him. He's in a coma, but he's breathing on his own, which is a good sign."

That's _serious_. Not that he thought things were okay from the state Bright was in when they found him, but it was a different thing entirely for a doctor to confirm it.

"Our biggest concern right now is organ function. We're going to keep him in the ICU so if he needs any urgent treatment, it's closeby."

Gil translates urgent treatment to life-saving measures, but keeps his mouth shut so he doesn't float the idea into Jesica's mind. They already have enough to deal with.

"Thank you," Jessica says. 

The doctor leaves the two alone in the room. Jessica turns to Gil and says, "They think he might die."

Apparently she parsed the information herself and withholding wasn't necessary. "He got this far — that's a good sign," Gil reassures her.

"How did he get poisoned at a scene?" Jessica asks him.

He wishes he understood that himself. He knows the team is looking at it — maybe they can tell him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Head back to the [Bookshelf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588570#workskin) to pick another book. :)


End file.
